Wednesday, January 7, 2009

New Year, New Students, New Experiences

Today is the day the students return (yay!) and as always, the time after the holidays is when we lose several students. More importantly, it is when we gain some more students. Although, we usually lose and gain about the same number, it never works out as an even swap.

For instance, we lost Max. I could cry! He was the 3rd grader who could read on a college level. I've been putting all my chips on him to raise the test scores.

And we gained Annaliese (not her real name). She is a cute and boingy 1st grader. Who doesn't know how to spell her name.

No big deal, you say. Well. When asked, her mother couldn't spell her name either.

Why in the love of all things chocolate would you name your very own offspring a name you couldn't freaking spell?! I realize that she *may* have some learning problems (mom, that it - but then again, there is that theory about apples and trees...), but she seemed with-it enough to have some coping skills (suggestions for mom: write the name on a piece of paper in your purse, tattoo it on your body, etc).

We also got Hayley (again, not her real name) - also in 1st grade. According to Mom, she likes Barbie stickers. And that is important to know because she likes to run away. And bite. And the biggest thing that sets her off is not having strawberry milk, you do have strawberry milk, she really likes that strawberry milk, and what will we do if she doesn't have strawberry milk....

Now back to the Barbie stickers (I kept getting lost in this conversation), well, the Barbie stickers are what she needs for a reward for simply GETTING OUT OF THE CAR. I think my mornings are about to get interesting.

Can you hear me now? "Whhoo Hoo! I like the way you stepped out of the car! Nice move. And the way you held on to your backpack AND closed the door at the same time. Why that was awesome! Here. Have a Barbie sticker."

On a serious note, I truly am excited about the kids coming back to school. They are adorable and entertaining (sometimes, I wish they were a little less entertaining - especially when I a become a chew toy). We seem to have a lot of kids being raised by parents who want to be their child's buddy. There seems to be a fear of guidance and consequences. Everything in life can't be positive - in fact, people learn from mistakes (sometimes).

Speaking of learning from past mistakes, I've got to go. Need to go find some Barbie stickers and strawberry milk.

12 comments:

♥ Braja said...

I can think of incentives for getting her out the car, but they're possibly not legal. Or very yogi-like...

Pseudo said...

This post really made me laugh. Puts some of my teen students in perspective.

Have you discovered Vodka Mom? A kindergarten teacher who blogs about her students, some fun stuff there too.

cheatymoon said...

"Interesting" is always the word we use when we really want to say something else... eh?
Oh, do I have stories. That I cannot publish due to confidentiality. Damn. Cos there's some good stuff...
Load up on those Barbie Stickers.

HeatherPride said...

Oh my. Hearing about your school-aged children sure makes me feel a lot better about my 4-year old's behavior!! Good luck with those stickers and that milk!

Candice said...

Yeah, I use rewards to get my kids to do things I want them to do. It goes a little something like this.

"Your ass. OUT of the car... NOW!

Okay, so I don't say ass. ;) I really never understood the parents who felt that they need to reward their kid for every single, solitary thing that their child did. You end up with kids that freak out when they don't get their Barbie sticker or have a constant strawberry milk IV infusion.

I still think that you should have to have a parenting license in order to breed. Trust me, after working in the hospital, I have some really good examples to back my theory.

Unknown said...

Boy do I ever hear you!!! I am a K-Aide and life is all about Barbie Stickers, Transformers and Strawberry milk. And the being your child's buddy thing is off of the chain...

Peace - Rene

Anonymous said...

All of a sudden I feel like a parental super star. Barbie stickers and strawberry milk? Can't spell your kid's name? good god.

Aracely said...

We heart pink milk! Oh my... I hadn't read the whole I'm a principle in the bio.

For the record Principal Beth, I can spell all 3 of my sons names. THREE!

Beth said...

Braja - We are probably thinking of the same incentives...

Trying to stay calm - Welcome!

Pseudo - I love Vodka Mom! She's the shizzle!

Heather - I know what you mean. A lot of parents out there have made me look real good.

Candice - If I could, I'd put you in charge of the parental licensing dept in TX. You'd be good at that.

Not the Rockefellers - Ditto on the parental buddy phenom.

Followthatdog - You are a parental super star!

Threboys1mommy - Good job on the spelling! Here. Have a Barbie sticker.

Everyday Goddess said...

What are the parents thinking? Giving incentives for routine behavior? Oh that reminds me. I have to take my daughter out of school early today. We are having a spa day to celebrate how great she is at breathing.

Roxane said...

Just stumbled upon your blog and loving every minute of it!

amy said...

Ha! Beth, I love new children and their crazy names. For instance, one year in 1st grade we had an Oleg Cassini. First and middle name: Oleg Cassini. I spent most of the year wondering why this poor child's mother didn't name him something much more awesome, like Gianni Versace or Yves St. Laurent. Oleg Cassini? Didn't his fashion die, like, in 1989?

We've also had a: YourMajesty (called "Magic" because every teacher in the school refused to address him as YourMajesty, an Almonds (pronounced: All-MONZ), a Sweet Dulce (a slightly irreverant choice, as it translates to Dulce Candy the other way around), a Heavenly Angel (who was anything but), and a wide assortment of children named after cars, often spelled in crazily creative ways.

Currently, we are enjoying a small child named Miracle. We have yet to see him perform any yet, but we remain hopeful. In fact, his sister may actually be "Hope." I don't know; I'll have to check his file.

We don't have children who need stickers to get out of cars (anymore--I think we did earlier this year), but we do have a mom who sits in the parking lot (every. frickin'. morning.) spoon feeding her Kindergartener breakfast.

And we wonder why kids these days can't spell, get a job and a place of their own, and/or make appropriate fashion choices. Thank goodness the government's fixing that with NCLB. :-P